Quote Originally Posted by silyavski View Post
Couldn't you just rise 2 plastic or other panels both sides, height as just the gantry to be able to pass, so all swarf stays in?
The problematic limit switch is right at the bottom of the z-axis so adding panels to the side would not prevent the problem. In reality this switch is almost useless because if it ever gets activated by the plate that supports the spindle, bad things will have already happened to the table as it is very low. I only kept it there for reasons of symmetry (I have a similar, more useful limit switches on the x- and y-axes). I have two choices, remove it or mount it higher and on an insulating base as well as shielding it from all the chips that get blown around. I will make that call tomorrow after deciding if it is worth having it at all. Moving it would involve a severe strip-down and I am not too enthusiastic about that at the moment.

One other big mistake I made was to wire the limit switches into the stepper driver enable line to remove drive on whichever axis has tripped it. This leaves drive to the other two and as it is the z-axis which stops, x and y are free to bury the cutting tool into my work piece which is reasonably catastrophic. You live and learn.